About Me
Over the past twenty years, one band has cast a shadow over all other bands and musicians of its or any other time, and that band is Metallica. Started in 1982 with the combination of drummer Lars Ulrich, guitarist James Hetfield, vocals/lead guitar Dave Mustaine and bassist Ron McGovney, Metallica has put out some of the most influential rock music of all time. Shortly after the band got there start in San Francisco, Hetfield moved to vocals, McGovney and Mustaine left the band, and new lead guitarist Kirk Hammett and bassist Cliff Burton were added to the equation, creating the Four Horsemen that people would come to know and love. 1983 marked the beginning of a new rock and roll era with the release of Metallica's first studio album, "Kill Em' All." People were starting to talk not only in San Francisco, but nationwide, and in 1984, when Metallica released there second studio effort, "Ride the Lightning," Metallica had become the premier metal band of the 80's. Much of the success of this album can be credited to the first single, "For Whom the Bell Tolls," and the powerful, "Creeping Death." After "Ride the Lightning" was released, Metallica spent no time touring for fear of losing momentum, and went back into the studio and created there masterpiece, the album rock critics and bands worldwide call the greatest metal album of all time, "Master of Puppets." Much of the success of this album can be directly contributed to the single, "Master of Puppets, the deep, moving, "Welcome Home (Sanitarium)," and the dark, disturbing song, "The Thing There Should Not be." With the release of this album, Metallica became known as one of the greatest rock bands of all time, and they showed no sign of slowing down. Then, tragedy struck. During a tour in the UK, Metallica were heading to there next show when there bus flipped, killing bassist Cliff Burton. After Cliff died, Metallica needed to find a new bassist fast, as they continued to grow as the top-selling metal band of all time. About six months after Burton passed, Metallica decided on Jason Newsted to handle the death axe. Being Metallica, they spent no time off regardless of the loss of there great friend, and immediately went into the studio with Newsted to create "...And Justice For All." The first single off this album was the epic storytelling of novel "Johnny Got His Gun,", the epic, powerful, "One." Metallica recieved some criticism after the release of this single however, with fans calling them sellouts for making a music video for the song to go with the single, but being Metallica, they shrugged it off and did almost two full years of touring. After a needed break, Metallica went back into the studio to create there most diverse album to date, there self-titled "Black Album." After the huge success of this album, much thanks to the epic single, "Enter Sandman," the power ballad, "The Unforgiven," and the bone crunching, "Sad But True," Metallica went on one of the most extensive world tours in the history of music. In two and a half years, 915 days, Metallica had played over 700 concerts. After the tour, nobody heard a pop from Metallica until 1996. Metallica's good friends Alice In Chains had been asked by MTV to do a show for there "Unplugged" TV series, and when the concert began, Metallica graced the front for, complete with haircuts and clean shaven faces. Alice In Chains bassist Mike Inez found this to be the perfect opportunity to poke a little fun at there friends, and before the concert started, he wrote on his bass the words, "Friends don't let friends get friends haircuts," and that was aired on MTV and put on the DVD that was released. Shortly after the concert, Metallica announced they would be releasing there first studio album in almost four years, and they began to be recognized once again as one of the greatest metal bands of all time. In early 1997, they released, "Load." Metallica went on a year and a half long tour after the release of the album, then went back and recorded the follow up to "Load," tentatively titled, "Re-Load." After the release and success of, "Re-Load," Metallica created the, "Summer Sanitarium Tour," with Metallica, Korn, Kid Rock, System of a Down and Powerman 5000, which was the highest grossing concert tour in the year 2000. After the, "Summer Sanitarium Tour," Metallica's plan was to take a year off and begin there eighth studio album in mid to late 2001, but then many things happened, and you could safely say that things didn't go as well as planned. Almost right after the tour ended, bassist Jason Newsted went right to work on his side project, "Ehobrain," and when the recording for there album was done, Newsted told Hetfield about it, but Newsted didn't get exactly the reaction he wanted. Hetfield told Newsted that he could not release the album, and the two began to feud, untimately resulting in Newsted's departure from the band in early 2001. When the three remaining members of Metallica got together in August of 2001, shortly after entering the studio with producer Bob Rock scheduled to handle the bass playing duties on the album until they found a permanent replacement for Newsted, they found themselves fighting over the smallest little things, and shortly after the recording began, James Hetfield checked himself into Alcohol Rehab, and was not to be seen or heard from by anybody for almost an entire year. While in rehab, Hetfield wrote a letter to be published in Metallica fan club magazine, "So What!" telling everybody that he was alright and he just needed some time with his family to think things over. Many peple feared the worst, and Ulrich, Hammet and Rock feared the worst as well. In June 2002, Hetfield called Ulrich to tell him he was coming out of rehab. He came out of rehab a new man with a new life, and Metallica not only began there journey to find a new bassist, but to finish the recording of there album. It took a counselor meeting with the entire band three times a week, but they got the album recorded and the release was set for June 2003. Now, they needed a neww bass player. After holding a series of auditions, Metallica decided on current Ozzy Osbourne/former Suicidal Tendencies bassist Rob Trujillo, and the beast they call Metallica was ready to go back to killing crowds throughout the US every night. Metallica's eighth studio album, "St. Anger," debuted at .1 on the Billboard Sales Charts, and 'Tallica reinstated the, "Summer Sanitarium Tour," and Metallica was reinstated as metal's top act. If it weren't for Metallica, rock music as we know it would not exist. All hail to the kings of metal, Metallica.
